The present invention relates to apparatus for improving the separation characteristics and stability characteristics of fin stabilized weapons launched from aircraft and more particularly to the stabilization of air launched weapons by reducing the nose lift of the weapon while increasing the tail stability and minimizing the tail lift of the weapon.
Weapons launched from aircraft are fin span limited due to design restrictions introduced by multiple carriage external racks designed to hold the weapon on the aircraft. This fin span limitation can result in weapon stability problems that severely degrade the accuracy of the weapon. Weapons with limited fin span and low density also suffer from aircraft separation problems that can cause severe damage to both the aircraft and the weapon if the weapon collides with the aircraft due to the carrying back of the weapon into the aircraft after launch.
A prior method for solving these stability and separation problems has been the use of folding fins on air launched weapons. The fins are folded during storage and are activated to open upon release of the weapon from the aircraft. The disadvantage of using folding fin weapons is that fin opening times are lengthy such that in high speed aircraft the weapon experiences excessive yaw after launching and thus the weapon has degraded accuracy. Moreover, the folding fin, after deployment, can develop excessive lift which further complicates the separation problem by keeping the weapon in the aircraft's immediate flow field for a longer period of time due to reduced sink rate.
The stabilizing apparatus of the subject invention eliminates the stability and separation problems encountered by air launched weapons by reducing the nose lift of the weapon while increasing tail stability and minimizing the tail lift of the weapon.